Harbingering

The word Harbingering is defined as: (of an event or circumstance): to pioneer in or initiate a major change.

Created exclusively for the Cat Art Show LA 2: The Sequel show, "Harbingering" is about the influence American Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Rutherford B. Hayes had on introducing cats into the White House:

Abraham Lincoln was the first US President to have cats as pets while in office. Lincoln introduced house cats to the White House and was often quoted that he played with them for hours at a time. When Mary Todd Lincoln was asked if Lincoln had a hobby, she would reply "cats".

12 years later, Rutherford B. Hayes was the first US President to not only introduce Siamese cats to the White House, but to America as a whole. Documentation reveals Hayes owned the very first Siamese cat in America, given to him by the American Consul in Bangkok. His siamese cat, which he named "Siam", is the first documented Siamese cat to reach the United States.

"Harbingering" is full of research based symbolism:
To the left of each president, is their corresponding cat. Lincoln's cat "Dixie" wears a collar with the letter "D" and sports a fork on her head because Lincoln was known to feed his cats straight from the dinner table with a gold fork, quipping that if a gold fork was good enough for President James Buchanan, it's good enough for them.

Hayes's cat "Siam" wears a collar with the letter "S" and sports a crown on his head because Siamese cats were called the royal cat of Siam, and at the time, having one denoted great wealth.

The organic matter surrounding Lincoln's face in the piece is actual pieces of catnip pressed into the wax before casting. Catnip was brewed during the Civil War era as Catnip Tea to help human ailments.

The band is formed from the top of the US Capitol building, and below the piece on the inside of the band is the presidential seal.